Accredited official statistics
Individual Insolvency Statistics: October to December 2021
Statistics on new individual insolvencies in England and Wales, and related statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland
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Annual 2021
- One in 429 adults (at a rate of 23.3 per 10,000 adults) entered insolvency in 2021. This is broadly similar to the rate in 2020 but a decrease from the 26.1 per 10,000 adults who entered insolvency in 2019 (pre-pandemic).
- The total number of individual insolvencies registered in 2021 was similar to the number registered in 2020 but 10% lower than 2019.
- IVAs reached a record high in 2021 and accounted for 74% of all individual insolvencies. 2021 saw the lowest annual number of bankruptcies since 1989, while numbers of DROs were similar to 2020 but remained below pre-pandemic levels.
- Between the launch of the Breathing Space scheme on 4 May 2021, and 31 December 2021, there were 41,127 registrations, comprised of 40,503 Standard breathing space registrations and 624 Mental Health breathing space registrations.
Quarterly Q4 2021
- After seasonal adjustment, the number of individual insolvencies in Q4 2021 was similar to Q3 2021, but 12% lower than in Q4 2020.
- During Q4 2021, there were 27,349 (seasonally adjusted) individual insolvencies, as shown in Figure 1, comprised of 19,662 Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs), 5,863 Debt Relief Orders (DROs) and 1,824 bankruptcies.
Updates to this page
Published 28 January 2022